How could there be light before the sun and moon were
created?

Is this a Bible error?

THE BIBLE SAYS GOD CREATED LIGHT on the first day
of Creation Week, yet the sun and moon were not created
until the fourth day. How could light exist before the
sun and moon were created?

People who are new to reading the Bible will usually
start at the first chapter. And almost instantly, in
verse 3, they read that God said on the first day of
creation, “Let there be light: and there was
light” (Genesis 1:3).

But it isn't until several verses later, on Day 4 of
Creation Week, that they find that the sun, moon, and
stars were created. “And God made two great lights;
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light
to rule the night; he made the stars also … to
give light upon the earth” (Genesis 1:16-17).

How could the light exist on Day 1 before the sun was
created on Day 4?

First, realize that light can exist
without the sun. Many objects give off light without the
sun: Fires, candles, flashlights, glowworms, car
headlights, matches, etc. All that was needed for light
to exist on the first day was a light source.

The sun and moon are light-givers, but they are not the
only light-givers.

Light energy first

God activated light energy first, then great masses of
material were gathered together and set burning in
complex chemical and nuclear reactions, and the sun and
moon were created to serve as light bearers, or
light-givers, for the earth.

Second, in the book of John, chapter 1,
we are told that Christ is the light of the world, and
“the world was made by Him” (John 1:10). This
is true not only in a spiritual sense, but also in a
physical sense. At the time of creation, God was the
light source.

This may have been through the massive energy He used to
create the cosmos, through the marvelous electromagnetic
force system with short-wave radiation (ultraviolet,
x-rays, etc.) and long-wave radiation (infra-red, radio
waves, etc.), or through some other force God created.

The earth was obviously rotating from the first day, as
day and night were separated.

God is light

In 1 John 1:5 we are told that “God is light”
and in Him is no darkness at all.

Dr. Henry Morris made an interesting point about this
passage when he said that because God is light,
dwelling in light (1 Timothy 6:16), He did not have to
create light. But God did create
darkness (Isaiah 45:7) “as the initial state of the
unformed and uninhabited earth (Genesis 1:2).” He
created the primeval darkness to form a division between
day and night.

An important point that most people don't think about
is that darkness won't put out the light. In fact,
you can't have complete darkness if you have light.
It's only when the light goes out that darkness can
take over.

So God was the initial light source, and He created
darkness so that the earth could have evening and
morning.

When this earth passes away and we have a new heavens and
new earth, God will be the light for the holy city of the
new Jerusalem: “there shall be no night there
… for the Lord God gives them light”
(Revelation 22:5).

Physically, God is the light of shining glory.
Intellectually, He is the light of truth. Morally, He is
the light of holiness.

He is also the light of life (John 1:4), and of true
guidance (John 8:12).